HI.
I'VE ASKED THIS QUESTION BEFORE AND IT WAS ANSWERED BUT I'M CONFUSED. I'M WORKING WITH PHOTOSHOP, THE NEWEST VERSION, AND I WANT TO TAKE A COLOR PICTURE, MAKE IT BLACK AND WHITE, AND ONLY HIGHLIGHT PARTS OF THE PICTURE IN COLOR. CAN SOMEONE, PLEASE EXPLAIN THIS TO ME AGAIN. I'VE READ THE MANUAL BUT HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO DO IT :x.

several ways to go about this. one is to select the areas that you want to remain in color either w/ the magic wand or w/ the marquee tools, then invert the selection. The remainder of the image can be converted to b/w with desaturation which will look crappy or you use the channel mixer, check for it to be monotone and then adjust the sliders to the desired effect. I usually start w/ something like 70%, 20% and 10%. You can then use the curves tool to further adjust.

Another method is to convert the entire image to b/w as discussed above, then take the history brush and add the color back in to those selected areas.

There are several ways to go about doing this. I prefer to work with layers and masks.

Make a copy of the base layer so that you have two layers. Select the top layer and convert it to black & white with your preferred method. Then select the parts you want to appear in color. It doesn't have to be exact. Once that is selected, create a layer mask...the mask should be white (in the layer pallet), except for the part that you selected. This is basically hiding parts of the top B&W layer, allowing the bottom color layer to show through.

Now click on the layer mask (layers pallet) to make it active. Zoom in very close to your masked parts and use the brush to paint the mask on or off...until you get the edges perfect. Painting on the mask with black & white will allow you to paint it on or off as much as you want. You can use shades or grey or adjust the opacity of the brush for a softer touch.